Travel
Airline ticket rules you need to know
When it comes to airline ticket rules, the devil isn't in the details. The devil is the details. You'll find Satan in something called the ticket tariff, which is a massive, rambling and often incom
Travel Troubleshooter: A missed connection to Hawaii
On her way from Dallas, Texas, to Kauai, Marlene Kelley lands in Phoenix, Arizona, to find that her connecting flight to Hawaii has already left. But no one notified her about the schedule change, a
Hell on wheels: Four car rental scams
Never underestimate a car rental company's drive to make an extra buck. Amy Villa did when she rented a car from Alamo in Columbus, Ohio, recently, and she ended up paying twice as much as she expec
Travel Troubleshooter: A changing rate at the inn
Cheryl McClure reserves a room at the Hampton Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, and is offered an $81-a-night rate. Then the hotel has second thoughts and changes the rate to $149 a night. Can it do
Taking the kids: Gifts for traveling families
I'm lost! Hopelessly, completely lost on a winding, backcount
Travel Troubleshooter: No rain check from Hotwire
Jennifer Holland prepays for a hotel room on Hotwire.com. But a severe storm threatens to wash out her vacation. Holland wants the travel site to give her a rain check, but it won't, insisting its r
Seven strange travel surcharges
When Henry Harteveldt looks to the future of travel, he sees fees. Lots of fees. Take airline tickets, for example. "The airlines are up in arms about the fees being charged by the credit card
Taking the kids: Surviving the relatives this holiday season
I don't know how innkeepers do it.
How do I save my expiring frequent-flier miles?
no miles earned or redeemed -- before wiping clean program members' accounts. American Airlines' 36-month inactivity period switched to an 18-month limit on December 15, United Airlines will make t
Travel Troubleshooter: Help! I'm stuck with a ticket I didn't buy
Denise Reed calls Delta Airlines to get a price quote on a flight between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Memphis, Tennessee. Or so she thinks. A few days later, she gets a bill. Now Delta won't retur
12 lessons learned from life on the road
Lesson No. 1: Travel is no fun. Really. If you think it's all about smiling stewardesses attending to your every whim, friendly hotels offering fawning service and romantic sunsets on the beach, it'
Travel Troubleshooter: No room, no refund
When Colin West arrives at the Howard Johnson Express in New York, there's no room for him. He's sent to another nearby hotel, but has to pay for the room himself. West gets his money back for the f
Taking the kids: Stress-free trip tips for 2008
It's two days before we leave for a trip out West and my husband can't find his hiking boots. And he's not worried in the least. But I'm in my pre-trip freak-out mode, searching the closets, the att
Travel Troubleshooter: Help! Mickey's got my photos
On a trip to Disneyland, Marco McFarren and his girlfriend participate in a program that allows them to buy a CD of photos taken by cast members for $59.99. But wait! The CD actually costs $124.95 w
Taking the kids: Palm Springs a family vacation oasis
The question isn't whether to go swimming, but which pool to choose.
Chicago: Tracing modern architecture
Architecture buffs savor Chicago's buildings, but you don't have to be a connoisseur to appreciate the city's masonry and steel marvels.
Taking the kids: Pompeii perspectives
We 're standing in a dusty square trying to conjure up an image of a bustling gathering place with white marble floors, gleaming columns and fashionable people buying and selling wine, beautiful fab
Fall festivals and fun in San Diego
The San Diego region is a popular vacation spot year-round, with attractions like the San Diego Zoo, LegoLand and SeaWorld. But in the fall, the city and surrounding area also host numerous special
Bern: Switzerland's playful capital
The sidewalk going up the Aare River is congested with wet and happy Swiss, hiking upstream in swimsuits just to float back into town. I join them -- marveling at how this exercise brings out the si
Taking the kids: Hot air ballooning in New Mexico
We floated over the Rio Grande and skirted the tops of green cottonwood trees with the Sandia Mountains in the distance while school kids pointed and waved at us. We waved back.
Ancient Ethiopian city looks to future with tourism
For 1,000 years, this city on a hilltop has been a center of Islamic faith in the Horn of Africa, with a forbidding, 13-foot wall surrounding ancient mosques and serpentine alleyways.
Village life one take on the Turkish dream
I was in Guzelyurt, a village in central Turkey, for everybody's favorite festival of the year: a circumcision party! Locals call it "a wedding without the in-laws." The little boy, dresse
Customize your Civil War battlefield visit
Would you like your Civil War history seasoned with baseball trivia? Spritzed up with a winery tour? Do you long to dissect the Battle of Antietam with a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian?
Mississippi Delta: Birthplace of the blues
Legendary bluesman Robert Johnson's death has been linked to a jealous husband, the supernatural and pneumonia. So it's unsurprising that there are three separate graves bearing his name in the rura
Adventures galore in Australia, New Zealand
Yes, the trip is long, very long.
